Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Gemïny, welcome back to VENTS! Can you tell us about your latest single, Hesitation?
Is there a story behind the single?
GEMÏNY: yea there’s definitely a wild story behind Hesitation. It’s funny actually there was always a running joke in my friend group that I would write a book about all my extravagant adventures in the dating scene, and this album has really turned into the actualization with all the stories being posted on the blog: https://whygeminy.com.
Hesitation is actually probably the most known story in the circle. As a basic rundown of events leading up to the story in questions I was running away from a stalker tripped over a brick in UofSC’s notorious Horseshoe knocked into this girl laughed it off, walked home with her, got her number and probably texted her for a month on and off with absolutely 0 success (a bad look, Freshman Gemïny was not a conversion specialist, at all).
So, I’m chilling in the dorms, fresh out of this weird Hansel and Gretell situation, when I get invited to this fraternity party by one of the girls I was talking to at the time and her girlies. Majestically, I was able to sneak in, and there”s ol’ girl from the Horseshoe with some dude. From there, I cause some problems, got thrown out, it was just a bad look. In all honesty a lot of the situations that happened with her were a bad look on my part, looking back on it. But it was fun.
In regards to Hesitation, I was looking back on that incident and the relationship that immediately followed and just wanted to write about that weird space in the cupcaking phase where there’s all this uncertainty, and unrealistic expectations. I wanted to highlight how one second you can be that guy and the next you’re not, how you always have to be able to play both roles ya know. Have to be for the streets but in your head there’s always that one you got your eye on, you’re just playing the game until she stops trying to play you. “Always pimpin never simpin,” or however it goes.
It is a massive shift from what we’ve heard before; are we only just starting to see your versatility?
GEMÏNY: definitely, on the album alone there’s a sweet little ballad, a very ironically upbeat jazzy number, some very RnB centred mack daddy toxicity, some more bedroom pop, even a cali vibe, and that’s not even including the unattached singles that are in the works. Music is too much fun to not paint with the full spectrum of colours and timbres
We love how you pair intellectual and mindful lyrical depth with upbeat melodies; is there an artist who inspired that?
GEMÏNY: Honestly I’m just happy y’all caught the little hints of depth in Hesitation I was stressed it was going to come off to shallow and that depth would go unnoticed..
But, that influence actually comes from hip-hop icons. Rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick, Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z, and one other come to mind, but I’m not going to get into Eastside Westside politics today. They really just opened my mind to how deep you can dive into lyrics, from the double entendres and multi-syllabic rhyming to the simpler things like assonance and onomatopoeia, it was something I genuinely appreciated growing up. I Think I was always a Literary nerd and they took poetry and put it into a medium that made it cool.
Can you tell us a little about the creative process?
GEMÏNY: My creative process has a life of its own. That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s spontaneous. It has no set schedule and it’s always evolving. Most songs start with either me hearing an instrumental or some obscure sound that just manifests an idea. With Hesitation for instance there really wasn’t a single active thought, I heard what Tommi and Tuomo produced and the rest was history, I drove around town for an hour or two just listening to the track and mumbling harmonies until certain words weaved their way into the mix. And after I lay the lead, random harmonies just start jumping at me one by one, I’ll be in the studio playing a track back and a spark just ignites and there’s a big “it would be dope if…” moment. All in all, it took me about 5 hours to write, compose, and record the vocal arrangement for Hesitation, and the whole time i was bouncing off the walls.
However that’s not always the case, like right now i’m writing a track about my old toxic traits and there’s certain sections where i just had to put the pin down and revisit the subject at a later day, and ended up writing something completely different. Some days I look back on a lyric and decide to completely switch up the flow and rhyme scheme. Certain melodies that get completely rearranged because I got some feedback that I “wasn’t pushing my range.” Even days where I’ll add an extra piano melody because it just felt right. My music is really just one big fantasia No rules, No rhyme or reason, it just has to feel right; and that is definitely emulated in my creative process
Your sophomore single had a phenomenal reception across streaming platforms; how did that feel? Given that you always pour your heart and soul into your tracks
GEMÏNY: It’s insane honestly, everything is moving a lot faster than I was
expecting, and especially with Avalanche it came as a huge surprise. It’s definitely top 3 favourite songs off the upcoming album, but I recognized it as not having the traditional mainstream appeal. There’s a lot of unconventional things going on in Avalanche from the recording techniques to the round concept that’s added into the ending, and panning both of those “lead” vocals out, it was just very experimental and while i was exceptional proud of the release if you told me it would have the reception that it’s had i would have looked at you funny real talk. On top of that I completely skipped over Avalanche’s marketing campaign to get Hesitation produced. Nevertheless, it’s the song that people talk to me most about and I really appreciate that because it was a hard discussion to have let alone sing.
It’s really surreal. I can’t express my gratitude enough to everyone who reaches out to me on social media or talks to me when I’m out just to express their support means the world and when I say that wherever this journey leads is 100% thanks to that support I’m saying that with my whole chest. Because it’s that support that justifies all those conventionally wonky decisions I make in the studio..
What’s next for Gemïny?
Actually My favourite track off the album is creeping on out october 7th, and I’m super excited for that release. It’s where the story starts running from mrs. Jolina Goldberg (as I call her) and it’s really a lot of fun, there’s a lot of colourful vocal techniques helping paint the picture. It’s honestly the only song to date that I was able to justify incorporating the deepest pits of my range into the lead while also bringing out this ghastly bright high note that really could only exist in a spooky season song like this. Also Halloween is my favourite holiday ever so having a single that I get to pitch as a “Halloween song” on a Thriller type beat feels unreal. It’s a good one; it will also be the last single off the album. After that the story will be on pause until the stars align for “Victoria’s Secret” to come out. But don’t worry there’s still a lot more music to share until that happens.
